The present invention relates to a steel plate conveyor, and more particularly to a steel plate conveyor with a drive having a curved conveyor path portion and wherein the individual conveyor plates are flexibly connected by chain links.
When components are assembled consisting of several construction elements, steel plate conveyors traveling along a curved path are often used which are designed, for example, as a continuous conveyor running along an oval path. It is then possible to position various assembly stations adjacent to each other corresponding to the production progress of the component. The same applies to the dismantling of components consisting of numerous elements or to the distributing and sorting of piece goods. Here, too, there are generally sorting stations or unloading stations along a plate conveyor traveling along a curved path, which leads back to its starting point or to its loading station so that, at the end of the distribution process, the empty plate conveyor can once again be loaded with goods to be distributed or sorted. The same applies to the assembly of components consisting of several constructions elements, for example, vehicle engines. In that case, at the end of the assembling operation, the completed engine is taken away from the plate conveyor, while immediately behind it, the first basic element for a new engine to be assembled is placed on the curve traveling steel plate conveyor.
The drive for such steel plate conveyors generally consists of drive chains which mesh with gear wheels and which generally extend along the entire length of the steel plate conveyor. Such drives are known to be very noisy, prone to malfunctioning, and they demand a great deal of maintenance. Moreover, the constantly changing form-fit between the chain wheel and the chain, even if the chain is plastic-coated, for example, requires constant lubrication, which causes the system as well as the goods being conveyed to become dirty. The wear and tear of such plate conveyor drives is quite severe. Furthermore, such drives cannot be used to support the conveyor plates, but rather, there is also a need, for example, for parallel roller trains positioned below the individual conveyor plates in the conveying direction, on which the conveyor plates constituting the curve traveling plate conveyor are supported.
German Utility Model No. 85 35 683 discloses a conveying device with driven armored belts to transport loaded pallets, in which armored conveyor belts are arranged parallel and next to each other over the entire conveying segment in such a way that the loaded pallets to be conveyed rest on these belts and are transported over the entire conveying segment. Moreover, European Patent Application No. 01 91 116 describes a drive for pallets in which the pallets are driven in a drive station by means of a compression drive which interacts with a pressure pad. Such drives cannot be reliably used for curve traveling plate conveyors. Moreover, if the friction surface of the pallet is dirty, then the belt can no longer be reliably driven due to the loss of friction.